“Be that as it may,” Patrick says after I’ve made my case for Natalie being far more qualified for the social media position than Tatum, “posting a picture of herself and Jake MacIntyre in bed together was the kind of mistake that ends professional careers.”
“She’s not a professional. She’s a college intern and she made a stupid mistake, Patrick,” I say.
“Which begs the question why you think she should be given another chance.”
“It must be nice to be far enough along in your career that you forget about your own mistakes along the way,” I mutter.
“What?” The word is sharp, and defensive in a way that makes me wonder what skeletons are inhiscloset.
“We’veallmade mistakes, Patrick. That’s how we grow. That’s how we learn what not to do, and how to do better. It’s part of the process. Isn’t that why there are internships, and why people get promoted up the ranks, instead of starting at the top?”
“Some mistakes are too grave to progress beyond,” he says, and Sarah clears her throat where she sits next to me.
“I think what Patrick is saying,” she says, cautiously, “is that given the nature of what happened, it’s probably better if Natalie gets a fresh start somewhere else.”
“Given thenatureof what happened?” I ask.
“She didn’t post it on her own personal account,” Patrick says. “That would have been bad enough. But she posted it on theteam’ssocial media account,” Patrick reminds me.
I know he has a point. I know that this is about posting the picture more than sleeping with a player. But something aboutit still doesn’t sit right with me. Even if something happens to Jake, it’ll be a slap on the wrist compared to Natalie not being able to graduate if she loses this internship.
“I’m working to help find her a new internship,” Sarah says. “It’s just hard to find people willing to bring someone on in November, when the semester ends in a month. She’d need more hours than most people offer for interns.”
“Hold on,” I say, as that sparks an idea in my head. “I think I know where she can get the hours she needs. Is it okay if I reach out to her?”
“Given that she’s still technically an intern here, I’d like to be there when you contact her,” Sarah says.
“No problem at all. Let’s give her a call now, shall we?”
“Uhh, okay,” Sarah says. “Let me just look up her number.”
“I have it in my phone from working with her. Can we call from my phone and I’ll put it on speaker?”
“Sure,” she says.
Natalie picks up on the first ring. “Morgan?” She sounds desperately nervous and excited to be hearing from me.
“Hey, Natalie. I’m in Patrick’s office with him and Sarah from HR, and you’re on speaker, okay?”
“Okay,” she draws out the word almost as if it’s a question.
“Sarah mentioned that she was working with you on getting an internship elsewhere, and that gave me an idea.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it, but I have my own boutique PR company with a selective client list. The Rebels are actually one of my clients, which is how I ended up taking over the social media role here while Tatum is on medical leave.”
Sarah nods, clearly pleased that I haven’t said anything I shouldn’t have. Yet.
“Ummm, yeah, I don’t think you mentioned your company.”
“Well, the thing is, I’ve been spending much more time working for the Rebels than what I originally agreed to do”—my gaze moves between Sarah and Patrick at this reminder—“and I’m in danger of falling behind on work for my other clients. I could really use an intern to help lighten the load.”
Natalie’s gasp fills the office, and then she squeaks out, “Really?”
“Really. You’d be doing me a huge favor, actually. I have a few clients whose social media accounts I manage, and I could really use your expertise there. But I’d like to hand off more than that to you, because I know you’re a quick learner and think you have a bright future in PR.”
“Oh my god. I don’t know what to say. Thank you!”
